On amending the Decree of the President of the Republic of Belarus (amendments to Decree No. 493 of 16 October 2014)

On 1 February, Belarus President Aleksandr Lukashenko signed Decree No. 37 to amend Decree No. 493 of 16 October 2014 “On the development of cashless payments”.

The document envisages two major amendments. The first one involves a maximum size of cash payment (the amount of payments in total) for goods (works, services) sold by legal entities and self-employed businessmen to individuals as part of one deal. This amount has been reduced from 1,000 basic amounts to 500 basic amounts. The norm will enter into force in three months after the official publication of the Decree.

The second amendment involves taxation. Individuals’ incomes paid by Belarusian banks in form of interest from the amount of payment for goods (works, services) using bank cards, remote banking services are not viewed as objects of taxation, but only if such incomes do not exceed 2% of the amount of such payment. This norm is applicable to relations established from 1 January 2021 and will be in force till 1 January 2026.